“Even though he hasn’t gotten as many hits that you would want at this stage of spring,” Porter said. “It’s still early but … I think he’s taking quality at-bats.”

“And when you start to try to hit the 500-foot home run instead of just hitting the ball hard, sometimes you can miss pitches that you probably can hit.”

Porter’s seen it before.

“I think it’s very common. You get here, you want to impress, you want to show what it is you can do, and as you become a more veteran type player, you kind of let the game come to you a little bit.”

Worth noting

Robbie Grossman, who’s the favorite to start in left field on opening day, might have had the best offseason of any of the Astros players, manager Bo Porter said.

***

In the first inning Saturday in a 9-6 loss to the Yankees, the Astros hit and run with leadoff man Dexter Fowler on first and two-hole hitter Jose Altuve at the plate. It worked perfectly, and having a prototypical leadoff hitter like Fowler let’s Porter use Altuve in the role he’s always wanted to use the second baseman: as the No. 2 hitter.

“I said openly beginning of camp last year (I wanted Altuve to bat second),” Porter said. “But in order for that to happen you have to have a guy in front of him that’s going to be on base that can steal a base that understands situational base running. Frankly put, we didn’t have that on our team last year, which made it tough to slot (Altuve at No. 2) there and keep him there. If you don’t have that guy, then you’re better off putting him in the 1-hole.”

“Dexter is obviously, he’s a base stealer, which is going to buy Altuve more fastballs. It’s a pretty good combination.”